True to their word, Rosalina and Kain both declared swordsmanship as their major. Perhaps it was thanks to their high rankings in the orientation, but they were accepted into the most coveted swordsmanship course under the renowned Sword Saint, Professor Lynn Dia Sinistar.
As for Caelus, his goals had nothing to do with prestige or duels. He had only one priority — uncovering the whereabouts of his mother. And to do that as quietly and efficiently as possible, he chose to major in magic, selecting the most obscure and overlooked classes the college had to offer.
The first on his schedule, right after Professor Archeota's Liberal Arts lecture, was Basics of Dark Magic. It was one of the least popular magic subcategories at Rhodeia, typically drawing no more than four to ten among the first-year students when the average number per class was forty to fifty.
Not that it mattered to Caelus. The fewer people around, the better. He didn't care for grades, accolades, or even proper learning. All that mattered was staying out of sight and finding the answers he sought.
After trudging through a long, dimly lit corridor, Caelus came upon a pair of lonely double doors. Aside from a dusty desk and a couple of flickering torches, the corridor was barren.
"Feels eerily like home," he muttered with a scoff. "Now then..."
Pushing the doors open, he stepped into a small lecture hall. The arrangement was familiar — rows of seats sloping down toward a stage — but the emptiness was almost oppressive. It seemed like this classroom hadn't been maintained for many years.
Including him, there were nine students in total. Two sat together, while the rest were scattered as if trying to quarantine from a plague.
It was so quiet that every footstep he took down the aisle echoed against the cracked walls. Caelus chose a spot in the third row from the front. A few seats down, a girl leaned on her hand, her head turned away from him. The light pink glint of her twin pigtails shone even in the dim light.
Then, a door creaked open behind the stage.
"Apologies for my tardiness, darlings," came a voice, raspy and aged, yet carrying an oddly familiar grace. "I was caught in a meeting I'd have much rather skipped."
Caelus stiffened.
The woman shuffled toward a lectern, allowing the nine students to get a good look at her.
Draped in a loose, pitch-black cloak, she appeared as a frail, hunchbacked figure. Nothing was visible beneath the shadowed hood save for the faint curve of her lips — an unsettling smile that seemed to deepen the oppressive gloom.
"What the…?" one student mumbled. "Is she… even an official professor?"
Caelus shot the boy a sharp, sideways glance. Judging someone's worth based on appearance alone was a flaw he had no patience for.
A fool's habit that needs to be corrected before he enters the battlefield.
The professor pressed a finger thoughtfully to her chin.
"Hmm… Nine of you this year. How curious."
From the other side of the room, a student hesitantly raised his hand.
"Professor."
"Yes, darling?"
"Is this… normal? Having so few students in one class?"
"Normal?" she chuckled softly. "Hardly. I'd be lucky to have even four. The fact that there are nine of you this year was a rather pleasant surprise."
The students exchanged uneasy glances from across the lecture hall, save for two. Caelus kept his eyes fixed on the professor, expression unreadable behind his glasses. And the girl seated further down the row hadn't moved at all.
"Aw, don't give me those looks, my lovelies," the professor teased with a playful pout. "You'll wound my delicate heart."
"Sorry, Professor!" one of the two girls in the front called out nervously. "It's just… having a class this small feels kind of unsettling. I guess we're not used to it."
"A reasonable concern. Naturally, most students crave company. For camaraderie, for competition, and for comfort in numbers. I imagine it must feel rather lonely in a small room like this."
"Y-yeah…"
"Then, perhaps I should grant you all a choice."
The professor stepped out from behind the lectern, moving to stand before them. Her presence seemed to stretch across the air, and the gentle smile she wore never once wavered. A sudden chill swept through the chamber, and several of the hanging torches flickered unsteadily.
"I realize that some of you might be… disheartened. Perhaps it's the number of students. Or perhaps… it's me."
Her smile waned, but it was only Caelus who caught onto it.
"It makes no difference to me. Whether you choose to leave or stay is entirely up to you. So, those of you who wish to drop this class may do so. I'll personally pen a letter to the registrar's office noting your desire to withdraw. You'll face no penalties, and rest assured — I shan't hold it against you."
She scanned the room, waiting.
"Well, then… anyone?"
For a moment, no one moved. Though she spoke of permission, her gaze said otherwise.
Stand, if you dare. That's what they heard.
Then, a student seated across the aisle rose stiffly. Wordlessly, he hurried toward the door, each step echoing like a drum in the silence.
The professor's smile softened, her head dipping briefly in a sigh before she looked back up.
"There goes one. But… I rather doubt he'll be the last, hmm?"
Sure enough, the two girls in the front quietly gathered their things and slipped into the aisle. They bowed their heads as they passed, then made a swift exit. A moment later, a boy seated on the far side followed after them.
The professor waited a few more seconds, her gaze drifting from face to face. But no one else stood.
"And then there were five," she mused. "Shall I take this as a sign that the rest of you intend to stay? A word of caution, however... Dark magic is an unpopular discipline for many reasons. It is shunned by most of the magic society, and you'll find no gentle treatment from me for having chosen to remain."
Another heavy silence.
Then, one more student rose and quietly made for the door.
"Down to four. Surely… someone else?"
No one moved.
"No? Last chance."
She let the silence hang for a moment longer. And then, a faint, satisfied hum escaped her lips.
"Fufu~ Excellent."
Without warning, the room was engulfed in a storm of wispy light. Trails of violet and azure spun through the air, illuminating everything they touched with a surreal, otherworldly glow. It grew so bright that the students shielded their eyes.
And when the light dimmed at last, the world around them had changed.
Gone were the crumbling stone walls, replaced by smooth, pristine white outlined in gold. Endless rows of books lined one side of the chamber, while polished shelves of arcane apparatuses filled the other. The dingy torches were no more, and in their place hung exquisite lanterns of amethyst glass. One could argue it was far grander than Professor Archeota's lecture hall.
"Phew~ That was quite the performance, wouldn't you say, my lovelies?" came a new voice — or perhaps the same voice, but unmasked.
The students turned toward the front of the room.
Standing beside the lectern was not the frail old woman they'd seen before, but a tall, elegant figure whose presence instantly caught their attention. A sleek black bodysuit clung to her frame beneath a flowing white coat, the golden insignia of Rhodeia's most esteemed professors gleaming at her throat.
Long silver hair spilled past her shoulders. A crescent of bangs framed her right eye, while her left eye shimmered a blend of pale blue and soft pink.
A student seated two rows behind Caelus let out a stunned breath.
"Holy… she's beautiful."
An understatement.
Even now, Caelus thought so. After all, this woman had once been a regular guest at House Luvelaine. The real reason he'd enrolled in this class.
The woman's lips curved into a warm, unnerving smile.
"Welcome, my lovelies." Her voice was like velvet over glass. "I am Professor Silva Ains, your professor for Basics of Dark Magic. You may call me Professor Silva."